Monday, June 13, 2011

Bucs Pick Up Catcher

The Pirates dealt for C Mike McKenry from the Red Sox today to help shore up the catching spot, down to the organization's fourth & fifth guys on the depth chart due to injuries.

McKenry, 26, was playing in AAA Pawtucket. A seventh round pick of the Rockies in 2006, the righty has a career line of .265/.357/.430 with good gap power. He has a rifle, with a career 36% throw-out rate against base thieves, although minor league numbers are notoriously difficult to project in the show. McKenry has a rep as a strong defensive player, being named the Rox best defensive backstop in 2008 by Baseball America.

He has 6 games of MLB experience, all in 2009 with Colorado. McKenry had nine plate appearances without a hit, striking out five times and walking once. (He had a 21% K-rate in AAA).

Pittsburgh got him for cash or a PTBNL. He was traded to Boston for a AA reliever in March, so his ultimate cost shouldn't be too high; it may even end up a cash transfer.

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